Scott Alexander argues for selling Detroit's museum art based on a cost-benefit analysis, emphasizing the value of quantitative thinking in decision-making.
Longer summary
Scott Alexander discusses the debate over selling art from Detroit's museum to address the city's financial problems. He cites an analysis from Marginal Revolution that calculates the cost of keeping a specific painting, concluding it's about $1200 per viewer. Scott emphasizes the value of attempting to quantify such decisions, even with imperfect numbers, as it can make the answer obvious. He argues for a consequentialist approach and provocatively suggests selling all the art and replacing it with forgeries, noting that signaling cultural superiority in Detroit might be misplaced.
Shorter summary